Fentanyl continues to be the main driver in drug toxicity deaths across B.C., present in 70 per cent of testing conducted. (The Canadian Press)

By NanaimoNewsNOW Staff

gradual improvement

Toxic drug deaths continue downward trend in Nanaimo & central Vancouver Island

Jul 31, 2025 | 2:59 PM

NANAIMO — Instances of deaths related to drug toxicity are dropping across the region from their record highs.

New data from the BC Coroners Service published Thursday, July 31, show 32 people have lost their lives to unregulated drugs in Nanaimo through the first six months of the year, among 77 similar deaths for the entire central Vancouver Island region.

Both numbers pace well below grim records set in 2023 of 114 fatalities in Nanaimo and 217 across the central Island, and continues the downward trend seen last year.

Island Health has reported 163 fatalities between Jan. 1 and June 30, led mainly by Victoria, who lists only behind Vancouver and Surrey for the most number of deaths linked to drug toxicity in B.C. this year.

Provincially, 915 people have lost their lives through the first six months of the year, however, deaths per 100 thousand people are at their lowest since 2019.

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A downward trend in drug deaths per day in B.C. has been prevalent since late 2023 and now sits at 4.9 people per day through June, down from around eight per day in April 2023.

“Fentanyl and its analogues continue to be the most common substance detected in expedited toxicological testing,” the BC Coroners Service stated in their report. “Decedents who underwent expedited testing in 2025 were found to have fentanyl in their systems (70 per cent).”

Methamphetamine and cocaine were also present in over half of all analyzed deaths.

A vast majority of reported deaths are stemming from working-aged men, with people aged 30 to 59 years old accounting for 69 per cent of recorded fatalities, 78 per cent of whom were men.

Over 46 per cent of deaths were in a private residence, while only 22 per cent were outside, or in a public building.

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